


What Does it Mean

by xXDBJonahXx



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Caring John Egbert, Davesprite (Homestuck) Has A Cloaca, Depressed John Egbert, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Don't Try This At Home, Egg Laying, Families of Choice, Human Auto-Responder | Lil Hal, John gets involved and helps, M/M, Multi, Nesting Davesprite, Post-Sburb/Sgrub, creative liberty in hybrid pregnancy, graphic depiction of egg laying issue?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:00:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28985250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXDBJonahXx/pseuds/xXDBJonahXx
Summary: What does it mean to have people who actually care about you? Who you are and not what you are or who you were?For Davesprite, it's helping someone unexpectedly helping him, regardless of the past.It's helping someone he's close to figure themselves out; that emotions are scary but good and it's okay to cry.It's taking responsibility for actions unplanned and not going it alone.It's finding out how to define family in one's own terms.It's a journey and he wants it.
Relationships: Auto-Responder | Lil Hal/John Egbert, Auto-Responder | Lil Hal/John Egbert/Davesprite, Davesprite/John Egbert
Kudos: 5





	1. One plus One

**Author's Note:**

> This is based post to post off a current RP with a friend; minor touchups to rectify stated facts.  
> Takes place on Earth C but does not comply with the Epilogues or HS^2 so it's like an AU, it will, however, contain character appearances from the aforementioned.  
> Please, PLEASE, read the tags, they will update per chapter.  
> As it stands-  
> John - Friend  
> Everyone else - Moi

He regretted ever letting himself participate in that night last week, he didn’t think he would, it was harmless fun and the guy had shown interest, no one had ever really shown interest in him before, hell, it didn’t even bother him when the guy introduced him to his friends, a couple of trolls, and they discussed having some group fun; and it was indeed fun, he didn’t know his body had it in him to go like that but apparently, he did. He'd let each of them have a turn and for that moment he felt wanted, they had been just as interested in wringing pleasure noises out of him as he'd been in giving himself. A couple days after, his avian instincts had started driving him mad, he wanted to collect more than just shiny things, he wanted soft things, firm things, anything and everything that caught his eye that seemed desirable and he could not for the life of him stop himself from stealing whatever the item in question was from his friends; he had to resist extra hard outside in public or give in and buy what he saw which led to questions from people and he didn’t want their questions that often.  
It wasn’t until he realized he was building a nest in the bell tower that he knew what was wrong and it induced panic. He'd started messaging Dave before freezing. Dave couldn’t know, none of them could know, he could hear their voices now, telling him he was a failure, he deserved it for being stupid enough to seek affection with strangers. He'd cut off contact that day, a couple of days ago now and in the end, he’d ended up telling Hal. He found himself wondering how it would go, he was a sprite but he was also avian and human, nest building meant it would be soon that he would lay, which was why he was flying around, seeking the last touches to the nest before he would settle in for months.  
Currently, he was eyeing the blanket hanging out to dry in Johns backyard, times like these he tried to resist, but he couldn’t, no matter how hard he tried he ended up flying over quietly and taking the blanket from the clothesline, leaving a note in its place; 'Sorry I'll bring it back asap DS' in orange ink.  
\---  
John sighed to himself as he rubbed at his eyes. To say he was tired was an understatement.  
He hadn’t been feeling the best as of late, but he had been working to try and get better. Besides, he was really just tired. He didn’t think it was much else than that- him being tired. A lot. To the point where he sort of started avoiding people and politely declining requests to hang out. At this point, they all started gradually forgetting about him. Or at least he thought that was what was happening. They hadn’t talked to him for reached out for him in what felt like a while, though there wasn’t really anyone to blame but him for pushing others away.  
That being said he knew that and was trying hard to fix things. Walking up and getting out of bed was hard, making meals and taking showers was hard, but he was working on getting better. He managed a shower, a meal, and even managed to do the laundry, which he currently had drying outside. Speaking of which, it was probably time to check on them, they were probably dry by now.  
To his surprise though, everything was dry but his blanket was missing. He blinked at the note several times. At first, he thought it was from Dirk because of the orange and 'DS' before noting Dirk didn’t write like that. Then he thought it was Dave, before realizing Dave didn’t do orange. Then it clicked. He furrowed his eyebrows, wondering what Davesprite could possibly want with one of his blankets.  
He quirked an eyebrow before pulling out his phone. He hesitated again, unsure if Davesprite even still had his phone, before taking a shot and sending him a message anyways.  
  
'dunno if this works still or not but uhh you’re welcome? I got your note, can I ask what you needed my blanket for?'  
  
With that, he stared at his phone one more time before sliding it back in his pocket and bringing the rest of his laundry inside.  
\---  
He'd been padding down his nest, laying here and there and testing it for his preferred softness. Maybe he'd steal more of Johns things, he smelled nice and his clothes were soft…which was a weird thought for him but his avian instincts liked the smell, it was comforting. He blinked as his phone had gone off, getting up and grabbing it from the edge of the large nest and looking before cringing. Shit. He didn’t think John had his number, to be honest, it wasn’t like they exchanged pleasantries often back when they had lived on the ship those three years.  
Still…no one had actually seen John in a while to his knowledge, which was understandable to him, one often regressed to antisocialism when depressed, he would know, he was in it. Still, it brought up the question of if telling John was worth it, he could be vague, if John didn’t know a lot about birds then he shouldn’t be able to figure it out, but if he did would he tell people? It wasn’t like they would go out of their way to contact him if John said anything, well…Dave might, maybe Dirk, Hal was a jerk and currently used it as a running joke, but he'd blocked the first two from messaging him so maybe it was safe to tell John, telling someone felt better than being alone, even if he had Hal. So, he replied, feeling a rise of anxiousness as he hit send on the single word response.  
  
'nesting'  
\---  
John whistled softly to himself as he started getting the laundry organized and folding it up and whatnot. He was already starting to feel really drained from doing it, but he was trying to push through. As said before, he didn’t need any help for what he was feeling, so he wanted to just quietly do this alone. At the sound of his notifications going off, he picked his phone up again to get a look at who had messaged him and what had been said. He smiled when he saw that the Sprite had indeed responded to him, but frowned and furrowed his eyebrows a little in curious intent at the single word answer he had received. Nesting? What did that mean? John wasn’t familiar with that word. It felt vaguely familiar, but not familiar enough that he knew what it meant. He tilted his head curiously for a moment before typing his own response.  
  
'nesting? what's that? is it a bird thing? it kinda sounds like a bird thing.'  
  
He hesitated on leaving the message like that or adding to it. He ended up deciding on leaving it and sending it off- that was basically what he wanted to know, he was genuinely curious. As he waited for Davesprite to respond back to him again, he finished up his laundry folding and grabbed them all up before heading up to his room. Usually, he would teleport, but again, trying to get better, so he decided to take the long way and walk.  
\---  
'Definitely, if you don’t know then I suggest google, it’s too embarrassing for me'  
  
That was more than he'd wanted to say…oh well. If John chose to google, he'd know in a few minutes when he got the impending 'ew you're gross' reaction most people gave him. Even on Earth C, a place that was supposed to be better, he was still shunned, still less preferred, still the lesser Dave. He was his own person, he knew, but it didn’t hurt any less when their…when /Daves/ friends made it obvious they preferred a more human Dave to hang out with. He guessed it was part of the reason he understood Hal, Hal was almost literally Dirk in many ways, but he'd developed his own personality, his own identity, he was an asshole but it was easier hanging out with Hal than most others when he could tolerate the attitude of the others in general…everything. He was a crude thing, Hal. Taken in small doses if one could handle even that. The few times it was longer were the times the other had sought him out on purpose, cuddling together in misery, those days he could tolerate Hal most because those days, they felt the same; forgotten, ignored, unloved. Hal wasn’t that bad if he were being honest at least, not to Davesprite.  
  
He shook his head, sighing and going back out on his search, phone in his bag; he wore a belt pouch for his phone, preferring to have it on him than stowed away in his sylladex.  
\---  
The response he had gotten was a lot quicker than he thought it would be, though he waited for a moment before actually checking Davesprites response. He was in the middle of shoving his clothes away in the spot in one of his drawers. He wanted to make sure he got everything out away before he ended up losing all of the random energy he got.  
Finally, he closed the drawer and walked over to where his phone was to check out the message.  
He furrowed his eyebrows in slight confusion as he read it over. He wondered what it could possibly be that it made the Sprite too awkward to actually say it.  
He exited the messaging app for a moment, to do as he had said, and got on google to try and figure It out. He got his answer relatively quickly and he just... felt confused? He didn’t know what to have expected but it definitely wasn’t that. He stared at his phone for a moment or two before getting back to the texting app and typing and sending out his response.  
  
'that's what it is? I didn’t even know you could do that!'  
  
'but I still don’t get it, why did you want my blanket for that?'  
  
John furrowed his eyebrows at that before getting up and going through his closet for a new blanket now that Davesprite had his other one.  
\---  
He had to pause and hover as he received the message, and now he had to stare because…why? Granted he liked it better than the usual but now he was a tad confused himself, shaking his head and taking a moment to respond before putting the phone away and continuing his search.  
  
'Why do birds nest John…'  
  
It wasn’t that hard a concept, he didn’t think so at least…but then he remembered, John was a relatively simple person, he didn’t care for that extra flare like Strilondes, of course, there was nothing wrong with that, he'd come to appreciate the lack of flare, left him more open to him, unlike the other three Striders…well…okay, two, Dirk and Dave still stupidly insisted on their closed-off bullshit, Hal was far to open which honestly might be a stretch to use that word, which left him in the middle, closed but also open.  
He returned to the nest, search on pause for now as he settled down to eat. He'd need to get more supplies, keep his stock high and build it so he'd be okay when it happened, he wasn’t going to starve and he wasn’t going to leave his nest unattended to look for food, so his only option was to build up a stock of nonperishables while he could and things to do to attempt to evade boredom.  
\---  
John wrapped the blanket around himself like a Cape right as his phone notification sound went off. Completely forgetting about his own personal rule, teleported onto his bed, grabbing his phone to check the new response.  
As he read the sprites message, he furrowed his eyebrows a second to think about it. Why did birds nest? Well, obviously it's because they-  
  
'... Oh'  
  
Well... that was awkward. His face flushed from the awkwardness over on his end. Goddammit, if only he would have stopped before typing, then he wouldn’t have had to ask such a dumb question. He stayed quiet for a long time, not entirely sure what to say now. Davesprite was basically going to be having little birb babies. Hm. So...  
  
'... okay, do you like... need anything? I have more stuff if you want? I don’t know what you’re looking for here, if you need more blankets, I have some?'  
  
He hated how awkward he sounded, but he really was a little concerned about the Sprite and what this meant for him. Even if their friendship had been a little rocky in the past, they were still friends. Or at least…John thought so.  
  
'or like... food? or something?'  
\---  
Yup, he was going to lay eggs, he was going to incubate, and they would hatch into...he wasn’t quite sure about that part, honestly. He was a sprite; did that mean the babies would be sprite-like as well? He hoped so, no offense to his bed partners at the time but he couldn’t remember if any of them were attractive. Well, he knew he was decent looking, at least, maybe that would help? He blinked at the realized message and couldn’t help the snicker.  
  
'Yeah, got myself into a predicament I reckon'  
  
'what I get I guess, karma and all that'  
  
'I mean even if I didn’t think I could I still didn’t use protection so'  
  
Now he blinked at the received question. John was offering things willingly? His instincts brought about a warble from his throat at the prospect of the desired scent. He flushed dark orange and cleared his throat; happy John wasn’t actually witness to that. Fucking avian instincts.  
  
'I mean...if you want? I've been trying really hard not to...steal...more than I have already but...it doesn’t feel right yet, I need more for it but I don’t want to inconvenience you'  
\---  
Now it was John's turn to be a little confused. He wondered what these little bird babies of his would end up looking like. Obviously asking that was stupid, Davesprite wouldn’t be able to tell. Not yet anyway, until they were... hatched? Whatever, something like that. It also made him wonder...  
  
'okay, if this is personal and you don’t want to tell me, you totally don’t have to but... how did that even happen? I didn’t know it was possible.'  
  
John quirked an eyebrow at how his message was worded. He sounded hesitant for some reason, though John couldn’t figure out why for the life of him. That being said, he actually focused on what was being said for a moment and glanced back at his closet for a moment.  
  
'well… I mean yeah!! I don’t mind helping you out? You're not inconveniencing me, I'll come by whenever you want it and give it to you, so you can see that I don’t mind. Uh, so I don’t know the technical stuff about this, so... what do you want exactly? I have a bunch of spare sweaters and blankets I can give you.'  
\---  
'I had sex, John, how else is it possible'  
  
It then occurred to him exactly what John might have meant.  
  
'Unless you mean the more technical answer of my...I don't think it's the right word but for simplicity, we'll say pregnancy'  
  
'Back in the game when we first started, Jade used a crow I accidentally killed to prototype my kernel, and then later I would throw myself in, unfortunately, it's how I found out the bird may have been female as I... well... no easy way to say this'  
  
'I, more or less, have a cloaca, in simple terms, birdgina, I didn't think the changes went further than outside my body but I guess I’m changed inside to and now here I am, in a predicament'  
  
'Still a guy tho'  
  
He sighed lightly, looking around his nest, ten feet in diameter, the edges a good two feet tall on the inside but still it wasn't ready. Looking back to the text box, he decided to take John up on his offer.  
'Anything soft you're willing to part with would be appreciated by the people wondering where their shit went'  
  
'I'm at the top of the clock tower in the CK'  
  
He set his phone down, deciding to attempt to at least make himself look presentable, preening his wings; which he needed to do anyway, those loose feathers were starting to itch.  
\---  
John's eyebrows raised in surprise at how straightforward he was with that answer. It certainly wasn’t what he was expecting either. In all honesty, he didn’t think it was a possibility for sprites to have sex at all. Then again though, after coming to Earth C, the sprites did change a little so it very well could have been that.  
  
'oh, huh'  
  
'I didn’t even think about how the Sprite things could change you like that'  
  
'who's the daddy?'  
  
His nose crinkled just a little bit. Not in disgust or anything like that, mostly because he was still confused as hell. And his particular wording on that question made him cringe.  
He wasn’t going to ask anymore for the purpose that he knew it wasn’t really his business.  
That being said though, he got up and walked over to his closet to start rummaging around.  
  
'never mind, you don’t have to answer that! anyways, alright! I'll be there in a little bit let me know when you're ready for me, hehe'  
  
With that, John started looking around for spare sweaters and blankets that he could give to the sprite.  
This was definitely not something he would have imagined he would have to deal or help with, but he honestly found himself not minding all that much. He just hoped that what he could provide would be enough.  
\---  
He cleaned through his first wing, pulling out all the loose feathers before looking at his phone and snorting in amusement, deciding to grace the other with an answer.  
  
'In the game, we couldn’t, we risked merging with things or other sprites if we tried physical contact with anything living after tier 2 prototyping'  
  
'This isn’t the game so I guess leaving the game in victory made any surviving sprites more solid, as far as the parentage...honestly I'm not sure, I may have gotten a little carried away that day'  
  
'It was just...nice...it was nice to feel something on a physical and emotional level that game had denied for so long... even if it was only temporary, it was still nice'  
  
'whenever you're ready, I’m just preening'  
  
He already had a hefty pile of feathers from the one wing since he'd neglected his wings in favor of nest building. He was halfway through his second wing when the appealing scent was suddenly stronger and he looked over. His shades were off to the side, easier to see his wings without them. It was funny. He was essentially Dave from another timeline, same face and everything, yet he somehow managed to be prettier than the more human Dave, must’ve been the avian features. Leaving the game had left behind the glow that made sprites appear so ghostlike, he was still orange in a way, like a tint in his pale skin; his human counterpart was tan, and he'd taken to cutting his shirts into halter styles since his wings were definitely a very physical thing that not even the largest of shirts could stretch around. They were pretty though, pure white with orange tips, lined and dotted with bits of black, the white plumage wrapped around his shoulders and collar bone, its fluff hiding most of his neck, complimenting the pastel orange of his hair. His eyes were like Dirks in color though his iris color took up his entire eye, leaving the black pupil the only bit of contrast.  
"Sup"  
\---  
John quirked an eyebrow as he read through Davesprites messages, explaining what had happened. He was honestly still somewhat confused, but he got the basics of it now. He felt bad though, that the Sprite had felt so neglected both emotionally and physically that he had to resort to doing that with strangers. He wasn’t judging him or anything like that either, it just made him sad. It made the way he treated him on the ship feel even worse than before. Still, that was in the past, now it was time to make things better.  
As he read the very last message, John furrowed his eyebrows, mouthing 'preening?' to himself in slight confusion. Yeah, he would definitely have to get on looking up bird term things, all of this was getting confusing.  
That being said, after double-checking that he had everything, he teleported over to where Davesprite said he lived.  
His eyebrows raised in surprise when he actually got a look at him, mostly because he definitely looked different from how he did back on the ship. Of course, he wasn’t surprised, considering that they hadn’t seen each other in a while, but he was still pleasantly surprised.  
  
"Sup. Your feathers look sick. I have all of these sweaters and blankets and stuff, you can pick which ones you want or take them all, I don’t mind. I was just wearing one of them but I don’t remember which one it was, so if you figure out which one it is and you don't want it, just toss it back."  
\---  
"Yeah?" he looked at John with wide eyes...well...they looked wide anyway, hard to tell with no white in his eyes, either way, he looked back at his wings resuming the cleaning of his feathers and pulling out all the loose ones "I kinda miss when they were solid, I didn’t have to worry about keeping a pattern neat" he chuckled lightly, pulling one of the larger feathers loose and looking at it before setting it in the pile with the others, his torso was covered with a black halter but even the black material couldn’t hide the fact he was looking a bit round in the belly...well shit, more than a bit. He'd finished his cleaning and stretched his wings out, flexing them, nearly 23 feet in span, before gliding over to John with one elegant push, stirring up a breeze from the force as his lower half uncoiled. The avian part of him was thrilled a prospective mate brought things and it was taking ALL of his willpower not to act on those avian instincts "Sweet, this should help plenty, won’t have to steal any more things"  
\---  
John nodded as he looked at Davesprites wings again. He genuinely did think they were pretty cool- as said before they looked different from how they did back in the game, but the uniqueness of them was refreshing. The game sucked and messed up a lot of things for them, so seeing Davesprite look different was a nice reminder that they were indeed done with the game. Besides, he was still indeed Davesprite- the same one he spent all those years on the ship with, so he didn’t care much.  
The sight of his stretched-out wings, though, was beautiful all on its own, but John wouldn't say that. he didn’t want to be all weird and stuff on the main.  
John smiled and let out a small breath of relief as Davesprite said that it was enough. He held them out to him for the Sprite to take, using his free hand to adjust his glasses.  
"Dude, that's sick!! I'm glad. If you need anything else, I'll gladly get it for you." John said with a small smile. Then he added, ".... So. Uh. Do you... want me to go now so you can do your bird thing now, or?"  
\---  
"Bird thing?" he chuckled, clearly amused "Nah, you can chill if you want, can’t say it will be entertaining, you've been warned" he moved back to the nest, which was quite a sight in itself. The base and walls were made from flexible tree branch bits, pine, it smelt like, maybe Fir? Nope, definitely pine, that nest was made of needle pine. He'd built a sturdy fucking nest; the branches were weaved together and it looked like it was solidified in shape with various strings of rope and ribbon. The center was a mix of soft fabrics; most recently added was Johns blanket. Despite what he said, watching his process was actually quite interesting, everything seemed carefully thought out when he placed something, sometimes he'd stop and coil in the center, sit a moment then get up again and take it apart to start anew, spreading everything out over the entire surface, tucking and smoothing out and layering, save a few articles of shirts and a blanket or two which he'd neatly folded aside the nest. Once he finished, he moved to the center, coiled his body, and settled for the final test. After a moment his wings folded and relaxed and he let out a content noise, instincts delighted at being surrounded by the smell.  
\---  
John rolled his eyes a little before actually taking a look around. The most obvious thing about where Davesprite had chosen to live, obviously, was his now nest. It was fairly big, and John had to pause for a moment to figure out where he wanted to stay. He wanted to keep his distance from Davesprites nest both because the Sprite was busy and he didn’t want to get in the way, but also because he wasn’t sure how bird things work and he didn’t want to mess anything up.  
So, he floated near the edge of the nest and watched him do his thing. Honestly, it was a lot more interesting than John thought it would be and he found himself easily enamored with the way he did things.  
Once he finished and relaxed and made the content sound, John snorted and gave the Sprite a look of intrigue and mild amusement as he tilted his head to the side.  
"What was that sound you just made? It sounded cute, hehe." John said, a mix of a playful and teasing tone in his voice as he did so. He wasn’t really lying either, it really did sound cute and small and soft. He just wanted to know what it meant.  
\---  
He looked up at John, this time his eyes were definitely wide, the black iris centered in the orange, he didn't look upset tho, more like confused "what noise?" Had he made a noise of embarrassment and not known? Unless...? "You mean the sigh I just did?" He chuckled, that was probably the one sound he wasn't embarrassed about, people made noises of content all the time, even if it was accompanied by a light warbling purr, it was at least explainable. It was those other noises his instincts desired to make that he found embarrassing, one of which Hal liked to take advantage of when he could, he couldn't reach the feathers on his back and often had asked Hal to do it, it was a sensitive area though and the asshole knew it, sometimes he asked Dirk or His counterpart who were far less an asshole about it; still felt exceedingly nice they just didn't make a point to arouse him with it like Hal did. He shifted, crossing his arms over one of his coils and resting his chin on them "you can sit, it's okay" it was definitely okay for John considering he was the primary source of the scent so desired, but John didn't need to know that. Shit was indeed soft though, all that fussing had a purpose, he'd certainly placed things in advantage to comfort.  
\---  
John snorted softly and nodded, lightly adjusting his glasses.  
"Yeah, that one. It sounds cute!! Sorry if that's weird to say?" John said, shrugging slightly.  
When Davesprite gave him permission to sit and confirmed that it was okay, John hesitated for just a moment before plopping down beside the Sprite, while still keeping a little bit of distance between the two, in case he didn’t want him that close.  
It definitely was weird, to say the least, seeing all his things the way they were in the nest, but he didn’t mind much. He'd rather they be here with Davesprite as opposed to being just tossed in his closet where he would probably forget about it.  
It was all definitely really soft and comfortable though, so he also didn’t mind just chilling out and sitting. The Sprite definitely knew what he was doing when he was getting this all set up- or at least his bird side did? He wasn’t entirely sure how that worked- but he thought it was pretty cool.  
"Not gonna lie- I love what you've done with the place. It's comfortable. Was it the bird part of you that helped you get all this the way you wanted it? Or was it just your fabulous natural input?" John teased playfully with a small giggle.  
\---  
Scattered about in the most comforting manner, even his loose feathers had been worked in around the edges of the nest into the ledge. "Not weird, I don’t think, it must sound appealing cause the other Striders think it's cute too, Roxy, the one time I met her, nearly suffocated me with hugs when she heard it... of course Dirk was also helping me preen my back at the time so I don't know if that's the exact noise she heard" he shrugged.  
He couldn't help the exaggerated eye roll and joking sigh of exasperation when John mentioned his nesting skills but chuckled after "Nah, that's the avian instincts all the way, but I guess in a way it's me as well, whether I want to admit it or not, it's part of me, but the credit does go to that half, I'm a hot mess with home decor, a Strider thing, I think, cause the rest of them ain’t that good at it either" this was true, the Strider residence was neat and clean but made absolutely no sense as far as decor went. He shifted a moment, trying to find a comfortable sitting position before huffing and uncoiling completely to lay on his side, that wing tucked against him. Hard to find a comfortable position when you had eggs in you. The human to avian mix definitely made for an interesting gestation period, hurt though, he felt like a pregnant woman but was stuffed like a bird. They'd be out soon, he hoped. Was it rude to be curious about it?  
\---  
John hummed thoughtfully as he listened to him explain. Now that he was thinking about it though, he wondered how many people actually knew about what he was going through now. Had he told anyone about it? He said Dirk and Roxy came by at some point, was that in general, before all of this? Hmm.  
"Ohh Hm, that's honestly kind of cool. I mean, I'm sure it's not the best thing in the world for you, but... yeah. Um. Sorry if that’s offensive. I think it's kinda sick though, that you sort of have bird instincts? While also still being, you know, you?" John said, scratching the back of his neck then shrugging. "I dunno, it’s just sick!!"  
He watched Davesprite shift a bunch to try and get comfortable, feeling a little bad for him. Having to experience that couldn’t have been fun- obviously- but just sitting and not helping felt weird so...  
"... You don’t look too comfortable. I know I'm not much but uhhhh, is there anything I can do to help?" He cleared his throat before continuing. "anyways, do you know how much longer you're going to have those eggs for? If it’s not rude of me to ask, of course!!"  
\---  
He sighed miserably at the question "I'm not, shit hurts..." he seemed to think a moment before looking at John "are you sure? I don’t want to seem like I’m taking advantage of your generosity..." he pushed himself up on his arms, sitting up again "but... if it's alright with you... can you help me preen? I can't reach my back and it's all types of itchy and probably a mess of loose feathers, you don't have to, of course, if I need to, I'll ask Hal..." even if he was actively avoiding his so-called family right now, Hal was like him in that regard of essentially being forgotten about.  
"Or find me one of those lounge cushions you lean against... that might be more comfortable for me... if that's more portable to you" he released a light warble sound of something akin to sadness, he was alone here and unwilling to ask for help even when it was clear he needed it.  
\---  
John frowned a little more before waving him off and scooting a little closer. He genuinely didn’t mind at all- it's not like he had anywhere to be or anything to do right now either.  
In his own little way, he kind of was forgotten and alone too, the only difference being that he was starting to become alone and forgotten because of his own actions. It's just the side effect of self-isolation and pushing people away.  
"I can do that for you. You won’t be taking advantage of anything, I promise. Just, uh... how do I do that? I don’t want to accidentally hurt you or anything. " John said, scratching the back of his neck.  
He huffed and softly blew his bangs out of his face as he tilted his head to the side, softly biting his lip before he spoke up again.  
"After I finish helping you with your preening thingy, I'll see if I can get you one of those lounge cushion-y things alright?" John couldn’t help it really, his caring side came out very often nowadays, both because he cared, and also because he rather have his energy doing something helpful and productive, like now.  
\---  
He made an inquiring noise, his own head tilting before smiling lightly "it’s not hard, promise, you're just pulling out all the loose feathers so new ones can grow, I have to do it at least twice a week but considering circumstances I've been neglecting the preening, I can do the inside of my wings fine but not my back or the outer side of the wings...usually ask Hal but he's been MIA" he shrugged before moving, circling in front of John so he was partially coiled around him but was mostly in front of him, the purpose of the movement was for his own comfort, midsection resting in the coils, and to give John a better angle to work and so he wouldn’t hit him on accident with his wings which he stretched out.  
The pattern was more visible up close, feathers white to orange, the black making a striped pattern across the white and speckling the orange with black dots. The mess he referred to was the joint area where the wings connected across his shoulders and a bit down his spine "think of it like...how you brush your hair and the brush pulls out all the loose hair, like that but with your hands and loose feathers" it was downy soft and the first gentle run through actually brought out a lot of feathers which brought that same content sighing sound from before.  
\---  
John listened to Davesprite explain, snorting softly at the mention of Hal. As far as he knew, Davesprite was right and Hal had been MIA for a while now. It made him wonder where he could be and what he was up to.  
He pushed all of that away for the moment to focus on the task at hand, helping Davesprite with his preening.  
John waited for Davesprite to get into a comfortable position, since John wanted him to be as comfortable as, well, as he possibly could at the moment. Besides, the Sprite knew more about this than he did. That being said, as he did so, John took a second to appreciate Davesprites feathers and the patterns on them. They really were beautiful, to say the least. As said earlier, different from the games which was really comforting.  
John listened to him talk once more before nodding slowly.  
"Right, right... Alright, I can do that. Just let me know if anything I do bothers or hurts you." John says softly, before going in and doing what he was told.  
The feathers felt surprisingly soft against his fingers, and the sprites reaction reassured him he was doing alright, so he kept going.  
\---  
The more extra fluff John got rid of, the happier the other seemed, relaxed in his coil, wings twitching every now and then in his relaxed state, a gentle purr leaving here and there. It was this very image that a certain MIA Strider walked in on, making a loud HA that startled Davesprite from his relaxed state, a literal caw leaving him as his wings flapped before glaring at the reason.


	2. Two plus One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is based post to post off a current RP with a friend; minor touchups to rectify stated facts.  
> Takes place on Earth C but does not comply with the Epilogues or HS^2 so it's like an AU, it will, however, contain character appearances from the aforementioned.  
> Please, PLEASE, read the tags, they will update per chapter.  
> As it stands-  
> John - Friend  
> Everyone else - Moi

Hal was leaning against the door leading down, laughing his ass off. Like Davesprites resemblance to Dave, Hals was to Dirk. The biggest difference was that Hal seemed a natural redhead, hair a lovely shade of Auburn and eyes a deeper red than Dave's. Like Dirk, he was tan tho a couple of shades lighter, and just as lithe in build.  
"I leave for a bit and this is what I come back to? You're getting bold D, didn't think you'd let Egbert of all people that close to you"  
Davesprite glared "shut up, Hal" before signing and looking at John "ignore him, please continue.”  
"Ouch, my feelings" Hal snickered.  
\---  
John hummed softly, more so to himself as his tongue poked out of his mouth in concentration. As said before, it was oddly comforting and nice to be actually doing things with all of his randomly generated pent-up energy.  
Davesprites purring sounds, if that's what they were, were also pretty soothing. At the sound of another voice, As well as Davesprites caw, John jumped, before also looking at the source.  
When he saw who it was, his eyebrows raised in surprise. Oh hell, he was not expecting to see Hal, of all people!!  
He watched them bicker for a moment before looking back at Davesprite when he told him to continue.  
He glanced back at Hal for a moment before biting his lip to hide a smile and turning back to Davesprite so that he could continue helping him preen.  
"Wow. Your feelings? What about mine, Halexander? It's been how long since we've seen each other, and I don’t get a greeting? I am wounded." John huffed, pretending to be offended.  
yes, he knew Halexander wasn’t Hal's real name, but he always thought Hals reactions to whenever he said it were hilarious, so he never stopped.  
\---  
Hal scoffed, making a face "you don't have feelings, Johnathan, if you did you wouldn't call me by that heinous name" he stuck his tongue out at John, walking towards the nest and stopping outside it "so, D, I assume this nest is why Dirk told me he hadn't seen you in almost two weeks?" He reached down to a feather sticking out of the wood only to pause as an audible avian growl left the ex-Sprite. Hal wisely did not proceed with the action and left the feather alone. He didn't step into the nest, keeping outside it.  
Davesprite huffed "not like they would've noticed I was gone anyway..."  
Hal frowned "regardless dude, coulda let me know you relocated, I got a device, it's called a phone, and don't say it was because I was gone for a bit"  
At that Davesprite said nothing and Hal sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose "alright... may I?" When Davesprite nodded, he toes his shoes off before stepping into the nest and moving to the closest wing, starting work on it.  
\---  
John stuck his tongue back out at Hal at his comment before laughing a little.  
He let the two of them talk for a little hit, not wanting to get in the way. Honestly seeing them both talk made him feel even more like a bad friend.  
He had seen Hal more times after the game than he had Davesprite. Of course, it had been a long time since he had seen Hal too at this point, but still. It just made him feel bad.  
Ugh, now he was getting all up in his emotions. No, back the fuck up. John Egbert didn’t cry; he was just going to bottle that up and shove it away the way he did all his other problems and feelings.  
He didn’t need this right now, especially not now.  
He glanced over at Hal when he joined him, before continuing what he was doing, a little less focused now, almost more robotic with his movements while still being careful that he didn’t hurt the sprite. that was the last thing he wanted, considering all the things he had to go through as it is, both in terms of the game, and just in general now.  
\---  
Both had noticed the sudden shift in his mood, could feel it without looking at him, but couldn’t do much about it at the moment. Hal was efficient, getting through one wing with no problems and essentially using the excuse of 'helping Johns slow ass' to move into Johns space slowly as he worked down the other wing to meet John in the middle. Once it was done, Davesprite moved, stretching out his body and wings before looping around. Hal wasted no time, invading Johns personal space as he got comfy in his lap and hugged him from the front the same time as Davesprite looped around and hugged John from behind, body coiled around them and wings moving to frame around them, as if to hide, releasing a comforting purr noise.  
Neither said anything for a bit, listening to Johns body signals. It was Davesprite who spoke first before Hal decided to ruin it with his bullshit, voice a soft whisper in Johns hair "we're grateful you're here" We as in him and the eggs since Hal had just gotten there.  
Naturally, it was Hal who ruined the moment "Hey John" a beat of silence "wanna fuck?"  
Davesprite made a noise "Is that what you’ve been doing while you were gone!"  
Hal had the audacity to laugh "Fuck no, I'm not a cheap whore, I'll be a free whore for John though" he smirked at the other male as Davesprite facepalmed "Hal..."  
\---  
John hoped they hadn’t noticed his mood shift, it wasn’t either of their faults, he was just getting way too into his own head and it was messing him up.  
John rolled his eyes at Hal's comment about being a slow ass, and simply gave him a halfhearted nudge followed by a half glare before continuing. With Hal's help, finishing ended up coming a lot faster.  
John thought Hal was already close enough, so to say he was surprised when he honest to god got in his lap and hugged him was an understatement. That surprise only increased when Davesprite looped around to hug him from behind. It all made him feel really warm and just a little flustered. He wasn’t entirely sure what to do with his arms, so he left them at his sides.  
When Davesprite spoke into his hair, he shivered just a tad with a small smile.  
"I'm glad, dude. I'm glad I was able to help you out too." John said softly. He was really glad that he was able to help at all.  
He was taken out of his thoughts when the male on his lap said his name. He gave him a suspicious, raised eyebrow before he actually burst out laughing at the question, hoping the light blush that dusted his cheeks wasn’t noticeable. He waited for the two of them to stop their bickering before he chimed in, smirking back at the other male that was still on his lap, dramatically sighing.  
"Damn Hal, really? Even after all this time, you still want to fuck me? Dirty, Naughty boy. We already have company, and we’re going to have children around here soon, keep it in your pants, Halexander." John teased, sticking his tongue out.  
\---  
Hal snorted, smirk never leaving his lips "Fuck yeah, what, you think just cause I haven’t seen your hot ass in a minute I’ve lost interest? Not happening, and we have time, those eggs aint here and they won’t be hatching for a while, so no, I will not, in fact, keep it in my pants just yet"  
Davesprite shook his head and rolled his eyes, moving from his perch against Johns back to the side.  
"Speaking of eggs, lemme see!" Hal pointed at Davesprite, startling a soft warble out of the poor guy who glared at him "no, it’s nothing grand to look at anyway-"  
"D, shut the fuck up, you're beautiful, this is facts, don’t argue, now lemme seeeeeeee-" he started to whine.  
"Damn! Alright! Shut up!" He sighed, flushing dark orange across his cheeks as he moved to a more comfortable position, lifting the bottom half of his halter to reveal the swell in his belly. It was similar to a human female except a little lumpy, you could almost see how big each egg was. Hal vacated Johns lap to roll over to inspect "Damn, they're as big as footballs...maybe a little smaller but still" he reached out, looking to Davesprite as his hand hovered, only touching the skin when the other nodded. Hal could be a real asshole, that was no lie, but he seemed to tone it down around certain people "Well shit, hey John, come feel! Shits awesome" he let Davesprite shift comfortably, the male seeming to relax now. He had been nervous, but with Hals blunt acceptance he was more at ease.  
Davesprite smiled at John "You can if you want" his skin, even stretched around eggs, was smooth, down the belly to his hips where two halves met the feeling shifted from skin smooth to snake smooth around his hip area.  
"D's gonna be a mama, I'm so proud" Hal wiped his eye of fake tears.  
\---  
John lifted his glasses up to give Hal an over-exaggerated eyeroll before he started laughing again, huffing just a tad bit, but didn’t say anything else about it.  
As far as John was concerned, Hal was joking with him the way he joked with everyone else. Or at least he thought that's what he did with everyone else, as said before, it had been a while so he wasn’t sure. Not that he minded though, it was just the relationship Hal and John had. They 'joke' flirted with each other all the time. It was fun, as a matter of fact. But he was sure that's all it was, jokes. He didn’t want to think about that right now, letting out an over-exaggerated and playful breath of relief when Hal got off his lap.  
He let the two of them interact, once again not wanted to get in between them.  
He couldn’t really help it, at this point in his life, he had a tendency to feel like just a really big inconvenience to those around him, or that those merely tolerated him. It was a hard mindset to get out of. He let his gaze wander out of the nest as well as around the area they were in.  
At the sound of his name, he snapped his gaze over to the two of them, looking moderately confused.  
"Huh?" He glanced between the two of them before realizing what they were talking about. He almost looked surprised that the option was even being offered to him.  
He blinked a few times before slowly nodding, shifting a little so that he could feel as well.  
"Oh. yeah. I wanna, heh."  
He reached out, slowly touching the skin. He relaxed a little when he did, a very soft smile on his lips.  
\---  
Hal wasn’t joking but he wasn’t about to argue with John about it, as long as John didn’t outright shun him, he could live with being the males friend. He watched John with Davesprite carefully, not that he thought John would hurt him or anything, the guy didn’t have a purposely mean bone in his body; keyword was purposely, but Hal had come to be a tad protective of the avian male, especially since finding out about his current predicament. The first thing he'd done was seek out the ones who he'd spent that time with, it wasn’t hard to do going by the vague descriptions the sprite had given him, there were only a handful of places people held parties. They hadn’t done anything, Davesprite had been willing in his participation, but the fact they'd touched him in that way was reason enough for Hal to pick a fight. He wasn’t a savage though, he didn’t beat them up or anything, he did however use his superior skills to rob them blind while he flirted like the little shit he was.  
Davesprites skin was warm to the touch, and sadly there was no movement under his skin as the littles inside the eggs weren’t big enough to cause, but the experience was roughly the same, there was life inside those eggs and soon they'd be out of Davesprite "Few more days, I think?" he sighed, pulling the bottom half of his halter back down when they were both done.  
"Still not gonna tell them?" Hal inquired gently, watching Davesprite frown "Why should I tell them? Not like it matters to them..."  
"Alright, our secret then" Hal nodded, grinning "Right, John?"  
\---  
The longer it endured, the more bad John started to feel. Don't get him wrong, he was definitely glad he was here at all, and feeling the eggs in Davesprites belly was a very special experiences in a way he couldn’t quiet explain, he just..  
Felt a little sad once again that he wasn’t there for the sprite, as a friend or for support or anything.  
He was glad though that he at the very least had Hal. It calmed John down enough to know that he at the very least wasn't entirely alone as he slipped his hands into his sweater pockets once he was done, once again listening to him talk. So, he hadn’t told anyone yet, aside from Hal obviously. Hm.  
Once again at the sound of his name, he glanced between the two of them, almost surprised again that he was being addressed, though he wasn’t sure why. Still, he smiled none the less and nodded slowly, adjusting his glasses.  
"Yeah. Our secret. I promise."  
He meant that too, he didn’t hang out with the others much anymore anyway, so he didn’t see it as being that big of a concern. It felt nice knowing that the other two trusted him with all of this.  
\---  
The reassurance had the sprite relax more, visible in the expressive way his wings moved, sagging slightly. He smiled at John, an honest one, nodding his thanks "Thanks, I just..." he sighed "I don’t know...I want them to know but at the same time I don’t...does that make it bad?"  
Hal shook his head "Nah, not like either of them have gone out of their way to check on you since you’ve been gone, right?"  
Davesprite flushed "I mean...I was angry at the time so...I kinda just...blocked everyone in the house, so I don’t know if they tried or not, but I doubt it regardless"  
Hal pouted "that explains why all my messages to you came back as an inactive number for a hot minute"  
Davesprite looked sheepish "I’m sorry, I fixed it later, didn’t mean to add you to that list" he looked to John once more, all calm smiles and a soft chirp noise. He was happy, which was a nice switch from the mood he seemed in when John first arrived "you don’t have to get the cushion right now, I think I'll be okay tonight, um...it’s not much but if you guys are hungry, I got cans of SpaghettiOs? Or...honestly, I'm not exactly sure what I've been buying, just that they don’t need to be refrigerated?"  
It was Hals turn to facepalm before he frowned "dude, did you really expect to go through this alone?" He frowned as Davesprite avoided eye contact and looked at John like he held all the answers, he knew he didn’t, but it wouldn’t hurt for John to agree with him if it meant the sprite stopped looking so damn sad.  
\---  
John also nodded in understanding. He got the whole wanting to tell but not wanting to bit, especially as Hal added on his comment.  
None of them had necessarily contacted Davesprite to even check up on him in the slightest. It made John sad that he was also one of those people at some point, but it also made him feel better now that he knew he was at least here now, and he definitely wasn’t going anywhere.  
John frowned just a little when the Sprite mentioned that was all he had at the moment.  
As Hal looked at him, John sighed softly and adjusted his glasses before gently and carefully making the Sprite look at him.  
"Hey. You're not going to go through this alone, alright? You have Hal, and now me. Two halves of a whole idiot." John says, sticking his tongue out at Hal before smiling back at Davesprite. "So trust me when I say we won’t be going anywhere."  
He smiled softly again before shrugging lightly and pulling away.  
"So, for now, SpaghettiOs are fine but we'll get you some more food and stuff."  
\---  
"Some actual food and not all this canned crap you've stockpiled, why?" Hal had gotten up to investigate the stock, after making a face back at John, that Davesprite had gathered, mostly it was canned things that didn’t need to be heated, not really anyway, but he also had a little portable stove piece made by Crocker Corp to run off solar energy and a bunch of paper plates "I won’t be able to leave until they hatch, so I bought things that wouldn’t require extra time to make" he fidgeted with one of the loose feathers.  
Hal nodded before crossing his arms "that’s solid thinking, but still, I can just as easily go get something far more nutritious for you than-" he grabbed a random can "Spam?! Ew!" and threw it, wiping his hand on his pants like the Spam had personally offended him.  
"So can John, for that matter, no need to resort to eating that trash...SpaghettiOs are good though, anyway, point is, if you're gonna be stuck here until they hatch then we will make sure you don’t starve, I mean, I can’t cook for shit, this you know, but that doesn’t mean I can’t just take whatever Dave or Dirk makes, so" he shrugged "At this point Johns the only one here with skill in the kitchen"  
\---  
John listened to the two of them talk again, also trying his best to get a sneak peek at the stock of food that Davesprite had.  
He couldn’t see it very well from where he was obviously, but listening to Hal talk about it made him just a little sad. Nothing they couldn’t handle though, all they would really need to do is take some time to stock up and get some real food, not... all of that.  
John also scrunched up his nose as if the can of spam had offended him all the way from where he was. Seriously, who even liked spam? No one he knew anyway.  
As the attention was brought back to him, he froze just a little, tensing for a moment before relaxing when he noted once more what was being said to him. He also groaned before flopping onto his back on the bottom of Davesprites nest. He stayed quiet for a moment before chuckling a little nervously and almost anxiously.  
"I, uh, hate to break it to you guys but I haven’t cooked in like... a really long time. I might suck so... bear with me? I got cooking food covered, just give me a few tries to get cooking back into my skill set."  
\---  
All of that was primarily because of the fact there was no electricity at the top of the tower, so Davesprite had gone with the best options for being stuck up in the bell tower.  
"No problem, rusty skills are still better than my no skills, Dirk won’t let me near the kitchen after that one incident" he pouted, returning to the nest and climbing back in, flopping gently over Johns abdomen so he could stretch out.  
Davesprite snorted "You almost burnt the kitchen down, and all you were doing was boiling water, Hal, of course Dirk doesn’t want you near the kitchen" he moved now, shifting position, trying to find a comfortable way to lay.  
Hal got up off John, leaning over and whispering at him "I know where I can find something for him, until then, be his leaning chair, I'll be back" he gave no other option, getting up and stepping out of the nest "I shall return" he slipped his shoes back on and was off, heading out the door to the stairs.  
\---  
John snored at Hal's comment. He hadn’t been there when it happened, but he heard a shit ton about it from Dirk, Dave, and even Hal himself. It was hilarious and made him wish he actually was there.  
John snorted when Hal flopped onto him, softly resting his hand on Hal's stomach. He continued to listen to them talk, a small smile on his face as they did so. In all honesty, John felt more content here with the both of them, than he had anywhere else in a really long time. He wasn’t sure what that meant but honestly, he didn’t want to think about it. All he knew was he felt happy and nice here and that was all that really mattered.  
When Hal leaned up to whisper to him, John was about to question him until he managed to get on up and out of the nest. He wasn’t going to complain obviously because he didn’t mind, but he did want to know where Hal was going.  
Once he was gone, John chuckled softly, lightly huffing as he glanced at Dave Sprite with a soft smile.  
"Looks like it's just you and me again, hehe. C’mere, you can lean on me If you want. or lay on me. or whatever makes you more comfortable." John said, giving the Sprite space to lay however he wanted on him.  
\---  
"Are you sure? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable trying to get comfortable" regardless, he moved to John, seeming to think a moment before finding a comfortable way to lay with John, he had to fold his wings around himself a bit to lean against John, comfortable between his legs, before allowing his wings to stretch out without hitting John, the softness of the feathers felt through Johns shirt. He was reclined now, humming gently with his hands resting on his egg-filled belly.  
"You know...I always thought I'd end up alone forever, not even Dave or Dirk or Hal, just me...yet here I am, apparently laying eggs that may or may not hatch..." he leaned his head back against Johns shoulder "I wanted them all to be empty when I figured out what was going on but...now I’d be upset if none of them actually hatched, even just one would be enough for me, maybe I wouldn’t feel as alone inside?" He frowned lightly, shifting his head to look at John "I've been trying to figure out where I fit in this new Earth...still no answer"  
\---  
John just nodded in response to Davesprites question to let him know he wouldn’t get uncomfortable.  
He let him do his thing, leaning back just enough so that Davesprite could have space to get as comfortable as he wanted to before sitting up a little more when the Sprite settled down in his chosen spot. Once he was sure the Sprite was comfy, he leaned back on his hands just a little.  
John thought it was interesting that he could still feel the softness of his feathers through his shirt, but he also really didn’t mind. He didn’t mind the Sprite leaning against him either. It was nice, and the most physical contact he had in a while, aside from Hal on his lap and Davesprite hugging him from behind earlier.  
John listened to him talk, and As Davesprite leaned his head onto John's shoulder, he frowned just a little and bit his lip, thinking about something. After a moment or two, he hesitated before softly and gently wrapping his arms around the Sprite, his hands just below the sprite on his belly. He stayed quiet for a second before speaking up.  
"Hey... I'm sorry it feels like that. Just know you're not alone anymore. You have Hal, and now you have me." John let his guilt come back as he avoided the sprites gaze.  
"I’m... sorry. For not uh. Checking in that much. I just... hadn’t been feeling the best? I've been so tired and drained and just finding the energy to do anything has been so fucking hard and I just... I don’t know what's wrong. I've just been trying to get by and survive. Not like we can die anyways. Me bringing you my blankets and sweaters and stuff was the first time I've been out of my house in a long ass time. I'm sorry, we were talking about you. My point I'm trying to make is, you have me now too and I'm not going anywhere. I promise. You're a little less alone now with me and Hal. As for your baby sprites, well, I'm sure they’ll hatch, and they’ll be so happy they have mama Davesprite as their mama bird so to speak." John giggled softly, doing his best to lighten up the sprites mood. "As for that... Well, at the risk of sounding cliche as fuck, your place on this shitty sorry excuse for an Earth, is wherever you feel most happy. I'd hope that's here, with me, Hal, and your baby sprites."  
\---  
He let out a small, inquisitive noise when Johns hands settled on the curve of his belly, right below his, feeling his face flush light orange as his instincts demanded he do something in return. He resisted, of course, this wasn’t that kind of thing no matter what his avian instincts demanded. Still, he found comfort in it and that he knew was Johns intent, so offering comfort back was no problem as he listened to him talk, shifting his hands to lightly settle them over Johns. His hands were smooth but not in the traditional way, it was a mix between human softness and the rough-smooth kind of skin on birds legs, it wasn’t unpleasant, really, though his nails were cause for concern with how sharp they looked despite their small size. Still, he wasn’t hurting John as he looked up at him, staring with orange eyes. When John had finished, his tail end shifted, curling around behind John as if to hug "I understand, I've felt like that before, sometimes it comes back, varies how long it stays...but I understand it" Depression, but could he tell John that? He remembered getting quite mad when Hal told him he was depressed; the denial was hard that day. He's since come to terms with it.  
"You're welcome to come around and just chill any time you feel like that, no need to talk or anything if you don’t want to, we can just lay here, and I'm glad I have you now, it’s...soothing...to know I have someone else with Hal, I can’t stand him sometimes but I know he cares and I know he acts the way he does for his reasons, whatever they may be, but I've seen him as him, and I hope you get to as well" Hal wasn’t always an asshole? Hard to believe. He smiled at John, small and vulnerable "thank you, I think in this moment it shouldn’t count as cliche"  
\---  
John tensed, just for the moment at the sound the Sprite made, worried that he made him uncomfortable or something along the lines of that. He already had an apology on the tip of his tongue before the Sprite shifted his hands onto his own. He relaxed a moment after, realizing that he hadn’t made him uncomfortable. The texture of his hands was different from what he had been expecting, as well as from what he was used to but he found himself not minding much.  
John stayed quiet once he finished, almost as if he were ashamed of himself for voicing his thoughts before he was surprised when Davesprites tail curled around him, instantly finding the motion soothing.  
He felt sad that Davesprites felt what he felt. He couldn’t do much, but all he could really do was hold him, so he did. Or well, he kept holding him and softly nuzzled into him the best he could. It was weird and he couldn’t explain it but he got a nice and almost protectively soothing feeling from having his hands on the sprites belly. He didn’t know why and he wouldn’t question it.  
"Thank you, but I might be coming around a lot then, now that you're granting me permission. I promise I'll bring food or whatever you want as payment for letting me stay. Anyways, I hope I do too honestly. right now, Hal had only made himself out to be a guy that really fucking wants my dick for some reason that I just don’t know? We fuck around and joke a lot but that's kind of it. I'd like to be able to see and get to know him as more than that." He snorted softly, lightly lifting one of his hands off of the sprites belly to wave his off before softly putting his hand back in its spot. "no need to thank me, just... y’know. Telling the truth. You deserve to be happy and uh, I want to help."  
\---  
"That’s okay, I won’t be leaving for a long while anyway and as much as Hal says he can I know he can’t stay with me twenty-four seven, he'll go mental staying in one spot so long, and you don’t need to bring payment, though food will always be appreciated, I only got the canned shit cause I wasn’t gonna be able to leave this spot for a while" he chuckled lightly "as for Hal, well...at first he was doing it just to spite Dirk, Dirk had the biggest crush on you for a while and Hal used to take a lot of joy in pissing him off for some reason when we first got here" it had been some years now since their lives started on Earth C though that did explain why Dirk seemed so irate in the beginning "Now, well, I assume he likes you in some way but he can’t communicate it effectively, considering who he’s based off, so he does what he does, I've spent long enough with him to know he’s not doing it to be an asshole, he’s just a tad…socially stunted when it comes to flirting" that was almost a lie, yes, Hal flirted with John in that way, but it wasn’t because of lack of social skills, he had flirting down pat, John got the blunt direct approach because Hal liked him a lot; he'd even apologized to Dirk once cause he 'got it now', Dirk had given him sympathetic shoulder pats and then smacked him over the head as a fuck you. It wasn’t his place to tell John how Hal was feeling.  
\---  
John nods in understanding. He knew that he couldn’t be there 24/7 either, but you can bet he'd try his best to be there whenever he could, especially when he was okay and not having an episode where it was a struggle to get out of bed in the morning. He knew Davesprite gave him permission to come even in those times, but he didn’t want that to be the only time he came over.  
As the Sprite mentioned Dirk and Hal, John quirked an eyebrow, both in confusion and in surprise.  
"Dirk had a crush on me? Wow, I didn’t even know. I mean, I guess that makes sense, with how he is and stuff. That also makes sense now, with Hal too. Back when we first got here, Dirk would occasionally try to talk to me, and then Hal would just start flirting with me. Dirk would get really annoyed and I guess it never clicked why? Huh." John paused to let that sink in, it was still odd to think that Dirk ever had a crush on him, but looking at certain things in certain ways sort of made it make sense. "That makes sense too. I don’t know if Hal would consider me a friend as of now, but I consider him one, so I guess our possibly one-sided friendship has purely been based purely on joking and flirting and all of that. I've never thought about what he'd be like aside from that? I never even thought about why he was like that with me. Hmm... Getting to know him would be pretty cool." john said with a soft smile. It was still weird thinking that there were people that had crushes on him (Dirk was past tense since he got over him at least by the time he started self-isolating and drifting away), mostly because he didn’t see much to like about himself. Either way though, it still made him blush and smile a little.  
\---  
"don’t let it fool you, he’s still a raging asshole, just not as much an asshole to people he actually cares about...except Dirk, Dirks free game apparently" he chuckled, wings twitching lightly, as he looked up at John from his spot "you sure you're not uncomfortable? I know I can get heavy with these wings and all, don’t want your back to get sore" He wasn’t that heavy. He had weight for his size but he wasn't as heavy as he thought, must’ve been one of the changes made as a sprite when he fused with a bird, that light ass skeleton, even his tail end which looked and felt like pure muscle wasn’t that heavy if he could fly with it...well maybe not to him, the weight of his tail was up for debate but it was certainly hard muscle against Johns lower back with soft skin. It seemed despite its long length he didn’t have any trouble with it. He shifted a bit, squirming in place as something in him shifted under Johns hand, the egg moved as if shifted over "Think I just gained another egg in there...that’s six now" he sighed "been feeling that since this all started, every time my body vomited up a new egg, wasn’t too bad until I started running out of room at egg three..."  
\---  
John snorted softly, nodding a little. He definitely didn't have any arguments there- he could see it from how Hal interacted with Davesprite. It was clear he was still an asshole, but he toned it down in a whole different way for the Sprite. It was interesting to see- he wondered how Hal would be different for him, if at all when he got the chance to get to know him better.  
John nodded softly, giving the Sprite a small and reassuring smile.  
"Yeah. Trust me. I promise, alright? I'm not uncomfortable, either. You really aren’t heavy. You're honestly pretty light. I bet I could totally carry you around, especially after all those years swinging those heavy ass hammers around." John joked lightly, sticking his tongue out.  
John shivered as he felt the shift under his hand. It wasn’t a feeling he was used to and something about it just made him get shivery.  
"Oh... Six? Isn’t it going to be... tiring I guess, to have to lay all of them? " He shifted his hands a little on the sprites belly again without thinking about it, the bumpiness of eggs in his belly was an interesting feeling but he didn’t mind. "You should be laying these soon, shouldn’t you? Me and Hal will be here whenever it happens."  
\---  
He felt his face flush dark orange and hoped John didn’t see, at the prospect of the other being able to carry him in such a way. He certainly wouldn’t mind being carried, flying got tiring sometimes no matter how light his body was. "I wager so, I have no personal experience to compare it to" he shrugged, comforted by Johns hold and touch at the notion of the oncoming experience getting closer by the minute, he was terrified even if he didn’t show it. His whole world was going to change all because he hadn’t the foresight to suggest his partners use condoms. Yet at the same time, despite this fear, he was okay with it, he was okay with his life suddenly changing so drastically because what the fuck was it before? It would be something new, and Johns words of reassurance helped, he wouldn’t be alone like he thought he would be when the time came; pretty fucking soon he hoped cause he didn’t think he'd be able to fit another egg in there! It felt like a tight squeeze already inside him and kind of hurt in the way his skin was stretching just a bit more; no stretch marks that he could see though so there was that he guessed, he wasn’t vain, just surprised, he'd seen pregnant women before and some had some pretty dark marks...maybe he just couldn’t see if he did? Oh well.  
"I can’t give an exact time but...possibly tomorrow? It feels like it will be tomorrow" When exactly, he didn’t know, it was evening now, so tomorrow could mean any time past midnight. He bit his lip, looking up at John again "I should warn you, from what I know, most avian imprint on the first living things they see as their parents, I don’t know if crows do that, but uh...if you don’t want to accidentally be labeled Papa you might want to steer clear when they actually hatch"  
He'd had the same conversation with Hal who snorted and waved him off, Hal didn’t care, he was going to help regardless.


	3. Three plus Point Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is based post to post off a current RP with a friend; minor touchups to rectify stated facts.  
> Takes place on Earth C but does not comply with the Epilogues or HS^2 so it's like an AU, it will, however, contain character appearances from the aforementioned.  
> Please, PLEASE, read the tags, they will update per chapter.  
> As it stands-  
> John - Friend  
> Everyone else - Moi

John snorted softly, lightly huffing to gently blow his bangs out of his face. He didn’t want to let go of the Sprite, so he just blew his bangs out of his face instead of reaching up to push his bangs out of his face like he usually did. At Davesprites comment, he hummed a little, nodded  
"Just let me know, alright? I'd totally be down to carrying you, Whenever you wanna." John said, lightly giggling.  
He definitely felt odd, a little out of place where he was but he definitely didn’t mind it. Davesprite seemed genuinely content with his presence and that was way more than enough for John. If the Sprite ever wanted him to leave, he would, but he hoped he wouldn’t want him to. John liked it here, and being here with Davesprite and Hal just felt right in a way he couldn’t place.  
He could definitely feel the tight fit of the eggs in his belly, and for the Sprites sanity, he hoped that was it.  
When he mentioned when he thought he'd be laying them, his eyebrows raised in surprise, mostly because he wasn’t expecting it to be so soon. He thought about if for a moment before letting the Sprite lean on him a little more and giving him another gentle and soft squeeze, continuing to trace small shapes on his belly.  
"Well... I'll make sure I'm here for it. I don’t know, maybe Hal will be enough support? It's up to you if you want me there or not but uh, if it's alright I'd like to be there. Also, uh, that's up to you? I don’t mind if that happens, it's up to you. I don’t know if you'd want Hal to be Papa over me." John said with a small chuckle. "Either way, I'm still going to be here to help you out. If you want me to keep my distance when they start hatching, just... let me know. I don’t mind potentially being labeled Papa."  
\---  
"I've been preparing for like...a week and a half now, maybe? Birds don’t gestate very long, it’s the sitting process that takes the longest, waiting for the eggs to hatch...all six in there, doesn’t feel like I'll be getting more so it will be soon" he took a breath, slow and steady as his wings twitched from a jolt of pain "yeah...tomorrow" He snorted and looked at John, almost shy at the response about possibly being the literal Papa, cause no offense to Hal...just no. No. Hal and babies.... he’d trust Dirk alone with a baby more than Hal and even that was a stretch. "I'd like you to be...I mean...I can’t make you, I would like you to be if you want, I'd like you to stick around if you want, I rather enjoy your company and, obviously, Hal does" Obviously "so if you don’t mind being Papa then I will not object" his smile was soft, big orange eyes staring up at John, a light cooing leaving his throat which he seemed to realize as it came out, flushing orange and looking away just as the door opened and Hal returned.  
"Yo, I bring good tidings" he had a bag in one hand and something large slung over his shoulder in the other "take out, got Chinese, wasn’t sure what any of ya liked so I got a bunch of fried rice and sweet and sour chicken to be safe"  
He walked over to the edge of the nest, kicking his shoes off again and stepping up "lookit you, all comfy on John, I'm jealous" he sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes and smirking as he set the bag of food down "and got you a triangle"  
At Davesprites confused look he swung the thing back over his shoulder, it was a giant triangle-shaped cushion "Here we go, this should help you sleep more comfortably while you still can" he set it down. Davesprite would be reclined at an angle on his back, indeed more comfortably than how he'd been sleeping.  
Davesprite looked at John "I do believe I will take you up on that offer"  
\---  
John hummed thoughtfully as Davesprite explained. He felt bad that the Sprite had been dealing with this now, it reassured him enough that Hal was at least here for him for a while. As previously mentioned, John wasn’t going to be going anywhere. He was determined to stay here with Davesprite and Hal. He didn’t mind, it made him feel like he had a purpose now anyways, so it worked out.  
John lifted his hands off of the sprites belly for a moment when he felt the pain, just in case what he was doing was adding on any pain to what he was already feeling before slowly resting his hands back down again.  
"Well, whenever it happens, I'm not going anywhere, and I'm sure Hal won’t be either, I promise. Anyways, uh..." John bit his lip in an attempt to hide a smile at the Sprites confession to both wanting him around and wanting him to be the papa for the baby sprites. He never honestly saw himself as being a dad before, and the thought made his heart clench a little at the memories of his own dad.  
"I don’t mind being the papa, and I don’t mind sticking around, so I will be, y’know... Papa John, hehe. I'll stay here with all of you, I promise." John said with a small smile.  
He looked toward the door and smirked when Hal opened the door. John whistled at him before laughing.  
"Damn look at you. Welcome back, loser. You wanna get your cuddle on with us? You can totally join the cuddle pile." John said, licking his lips a moment after when Hal mentioned the food. "Halexander, have I ever told you how much I love you? Bring the goods over here."  
Johns eyebrows raised slightly as he looked at the Sprite when he spoke up, smiling a little wider.  
"Oh? Carry time?" John said, looking more excited.  
He carefully shifted the Sprite in his arms a little so that he could pick him up.  
"Alright, where we dropping boys?? Er, this was what you meant, right?" John asked, a little flustered. "I kind of just assumed you meant my offer of carrying you- I can put you down if you want."  
\---  
Hal had faltered a moment at being whistled at but made sure to play it off "pfft, I'll join the cuddle pile later, hungry as shit right now" he set the food down and watched with surprise as John got up WITH Davesprite in his hold "Well, shit, now I am actually jealous" he crossed his arms and pouted.  
Davesprite let out a small noise of surprise before giggling lightly, clearly happy that John could indeed actually carry him "Yes, on the triangle cushion, that way I can relax and you guys can eat, and then we can resume the cuddle pile" he seemed so adorably happy and content now despite his current pain predicament.  
"You're not gonna eat?" Hal frowned, clearly concerned, which was also quite cute.  
Davesprite shook his head "Right now I can’t, no room" he patted his egg-filled belly to emphasize "soon as they’re out though imma be ravenous so don’t eat it all in one sitting" soon as he was down, he shifted to be comfortable and sighed "much better, not as comfy as John but much better than before"  
"Don’t think there’s anything comfier than John" Hal added in with a smirk, opening the containers and grabbing the plastic bowls he'd bought, spooning some fried rice into it and handing it over to John, spooning into a bowl for him before opening the chicken container and taking one.  
\---  
John snorted before nodding in agreement.  
"That is a big ass mood. I'm hungry as all hell." John said dramatically before actually laughing. He made sure to be careful with the Sprite in his arms so he didn’t accidentally hurt him or anything like that. He looked at Hal when he spoke and pouted, teasingly sticking his tongue out at him.  
"Awww do you want to be carried too? I can carry both of you if you want." He said, half-jokingly. He wasn’t necessarily sure he could carry them both at the same time, but he knew he could at least take turns carrying the both of them and he didn’t mind having to do either for either boy.  
John's heart felt like it was practically going to burst with just how happy he felt and how adorable the Sprite looked as he carried him over to the triangle cushion. He stretched a little once he carefully set the Sprite down.  
John snorted and waved the both of them off.  
"You guys are both adorable but I'm not comfy whatsoever. I'm glad you’re comfy though. let me know if you need anything. Either of you, really. I'll just teleport off to get what you need. Especially you, mama bird." John said before smiling at Hal and taking the bowl to start eating.  
\---  
"How would you know? Ever slept on yourself?" Hal rose a brow, sticking his tongue out before diving into his rice bowl, trying to ignore the light blush from Johns suggestion of carrying him. His pride wouldn’t allow it, but it was a nice thought...a very nice one when you applied it to less innocent things. No! Bad Hal!  
Davesprite chuckled "He's right, in any case, I thought you were nice and comfortable" he gave John a thumbs up "ten/ten do recommend Hotel Egbert"  
"highest reviews on the internet" Hal chimed in, shoving another spoonful in his mouth.  
"Hal, slow down, you're going to choke yourself..." Davesprite rose a brow before looking back to John, smiling "Thanks, nothings needed right now, I'm pretty sure we got everything...well, I do, in any case" he looked around the nest, eyeing it critically before confirming it was indeed to his liking and smiling in content. John was here and his scent was all over the nest, John had agreed willingly to be Papa, his instincts were ecstatic. He had food and water and comfort and, dare his instincts hope, a mate, he was perfectly content. Aside from the occasional pain, everything was good and he couldn’t ask for more...wait "Actually...now that I think about it, we might need towels?" he looked around the nest "yeah, I'm no expert but I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be messy when this goes down"  
\---  
John looked back and forth between Hal and Davesprite as they made comments about how comfortable he was before he rolled his eyes and groaned dramatically. He didn’t personally agree with their views, though that probably was because he himself was biased and way more than a little self-conscious of his body, especially since his fallout with the world. He didn’t view himself as being comfy, mostly because he viewed himself as being thin in an unhealthy way. But again, that was his insecurities talking due to the fact that he knew damn well it's been a long time since he's eaten anything. He wasn’t going to say that though.  
"I disagree with both of you but in that case, you can come to hotel Egbert whenever you please. Hotels always open for you two." John said, giving them both winks before getting back to his food.  
When the Sprite mentioned towels, John put his food down and gave Hal a playful glare.  
"I'll be right back, if you touch my food, I'm going to strangle you. This is the first thing I've had in weeks and it's great. Mine." Oh. He hadn’t meant to say that. He sighed before standing up, teleporting back to his place. He gathered up some towels and took a little longer to come back mostly because he was embarrassed about admitting the fact that he hadn’t eaten a proper meal in a while. He knew there wasn’t any judgment, it just wasn’t something he wanted to admit.  
After looking around his house and realizing he couldn’t just wait around anymore without it looking suspicious, he teleported back and nearly crashed into Hal in the process, but managed to use his windy powers to save both himself and Hal.  
"Oh hell, my bad Halexander. Anyways sorry I took long- I had to go look for more than one towel, I hope this is enough...?" John said, showing them to Davesprite before settling back down to get back to eating.  
\---  
Hal had been peacefully eating chicken when suddenly there was a John, causing a slight shriek of surprise before he huffed, placing his hand over his heart and ignoring the laughter that came from Davesprite "Jesus Christ, John, I know I’m hot but at least take me to dinner first" play it off Hal, play it off.  
Davesprite on the other hand was having a grand time at that almost accident, shaking his head lightly before looking at John "it’s good, thank you, I hope it won’t be too messy but better to be prepared than not" Neither seemed inclined to mentions Johns bowl had a little bit more rice and now some breaded chicken pieces in it which Hal took care of with an "I gave you and D some cause I’m fixing to eat this whole container like a fat ass" and indeed, there was a separate bowl set aside for Davesprite complete with rice and chicken in decent amounts.  
Neither respectfully mentioned Johns words, instead, keeping to light conversation and banter, when Davesprite had dozed off in what was probably a decent rest, Hal looked at John "he’s happy you agreed to be Papa John, so am I, I am not good with kids, but are you good with agreeing?"  
\---  
John laughed himself at Hal's reaction to him nearly crashing into him, the shriek he let out sounded way higher pitched than Hal's voice normally was so it just added to the humor of the moment.  
"Hey! I don’t know what you're implying, Halexander. I am an absolute gentleman." John teased lightly, sticking his tongue out before looking at the Sprite when he spoke up.  
He set the towels down off to the side to make sure they’d be near if they end up needing them sooner or later.  
John also didn’t notice the extra food in his bowl until Hal briefly mentioned giving more to himself and Davesprite. He bit his lip in an attempt to stop his smile from getting wider as he softly thanked him.  
He was also thankful that neither of them brought up what he said- he didn’t want to ruin the mood with his sad shit. When Hal spoke up, John looked over at him and smiled softly before nodding.  
"Yeah. I'm good with agreeing. I uh, want to make my dad proud in a way? Besides, I care about him and you and the baby sprites so... I'm definitely good."  
\---  
"You do?" Hal seemed entirely caught off guard by that fact alone, he'd honestly settled on never being felt for by anyone; excluding Davesprite but he was more brother than lover material and that was amazing. They were both misfits, copies of what was perceived as the real thing, so when people actively remembered they existed and invited them to things it was short-lived because being there was like staying at home anyway and they usually ended up leaving not long after. It was one of the things he and Dirk often argued about; his seeming ungratefulness, he'd argue back, of course, no matter how they started, they always ended with him feeling like shit one way or another. Dirk often made it seem like Hal wasn’t real, but he had a body and he had emotions, he had his own thought process and he had a fucking beating heart. So, hearing John openly admit he cared was a tad alarming to him, not unwelcome, but alarming.  
"Well...we care too...about you" he fiddled with the skin on his fingers, suddenly so shy, cause he wasn’t sure what else to do, it felt too honest an admittance to be rebutted with snark and sass like he did everything else.  
He cleared his throat, looking back at John "you think you're ready to be a parent then? Even if they’re not technically yours?" Imprinting would make them his regardless if that’s what they did, and even if they didn’t, he still would be because he chose to be and Davesprite allowed it.  
\---  
John quirked an eyebrow at the surprise that Hal gave him at his response. He wasn’t entirely sure what to say in response to that other than a slight nod. Was he not supposed to say that? John couldn’t help it, he was on the blunter side of things (though, ironically, there were a lot of things he preferred keeping bottled up and hidden) so he sometimes forgot that other people weren’t as blunt as he was sometimes.  
It did surprise him though, to see Hal without the signature snark and sass that he always has, especially when he got shy. It was so odd to see. He knew better than to tease about it though. That might have been their thing, but John had respect. It warmed his heart though to hear that they care about him. He knew his other friends did too, but having not seen them in a while and them not checking in made him feel like they didn’t care about him anymore. It was nice to hear Hal and Davesprite did.  
"Yeah, I think I'm ready. I don’t mind that they aren’t mine either. I'll still take care of them and stuff as if they were." John said thoughtfully and softly.  
\---  
Hal nodded "I’m glad, would suck if we made you feel like you had to..." he looked at John, curious "not that I'm complaining about your presence, far from it, but how DID you end up here with him? Last I knew he wasn’t telling anyone for his reasons" His reasons being about the same as Johns, he felt like they didn’t care, like they wouldn’t care. Honestly, John had been the first to reach out since he'd started 'borrowing' from their friends; he'd left a note in place of anything he took and no one seemed to care that he was apparently stealing their things and leaving notes. If they had mentioned anything to Dirk or Dave the other two certainly didn’t seem to care, Davesprite may have blocked them but odds were they would have contacted Hal as well.  
Davesprite was set to believe he would be doing this alone; parent-wise, obviously Hal would do his best to help but Davesprite didn’t want him as a father for a reason. When John had sent that text, Davesprite had felt shocked at first but had stepped into conversation with the male easy enough, and now here they were, soon to be parents of a mishmashed family formed by them in the span of a handful of hours.  
\---  
John adjusted his glasses a little at the question before sighing just a bit. It wasn’t a big deal obviously, he just wanted to get comfortable now.  
He shifted just a bit so that he was leaning back on his forearms, staring upward. Once he was nice and comfy, he looked back at Hal and lightly shrugged.  
"I had my laundry out and he nabbed one of my blankets. I texted him and asked him about it, he explained what was going on to me, and I asked if he needed anything. He said yeah that he needed some things for his nest and I've got nothing better to do and no one that will miss me back home so... I came and brought some stuff that he had asked me for. And uh... I stayed because he didn’t ask me to leave and I'm a lonely bastard." John answered honestly.  
As said before, he didn’t have anything to hide. Besides, despite all the bickering and teasing that the two of them always did, this was one of those rare moments where they actually got serious enough to have a genuine conversation. What direction the conversation would go in depended on them, but it was still a rare occurrence that John always welcomed. He never questioned what prompted them either because, as said before, he didn’t mind getting real with him every once in a while. It was refreshing, too, after spending a long time just... away from everyone else and the others.  
\---  
Hal nodded "I can understand that, he could’ve easily not answered you but took a chance, he was afraid no one would care, he IS afraid no one will care, and it’s not even just anyone, he’s afraid /they/ won’t care specifically" They being Dave and Dirk. Hal shrugged then "Maybe he's right, maybe they won’t, maybe they’ll do exactly what he thinks they will and say fuck it...or maybe they’ll be compassionate for once in their lives and try and give him what he needs most, but there’s no way to know cause he won’t tell them, he doesn’t want to and as much as Dirk keeps asking me I’m not telling them, it’s not my place, he knows Ds okay and that’s all he needs to know from me" So Dirk at least was actively trying to check on the sprite, possibly Dave through him.  
The Strider household was a complicated one it seemed.  
Hal took a breath before smiling at John, small, but genuine "I'm glad to know he's got you now, he seems much more relaxed than when it was just me and him" he looked to the slumbering sprite who was making soft noises in his sleep, dreaming whatever he was dreaming "Think we should try and sleep to, he'll wake us up if it happens"  
\---  
John frowned a little as he listened to Hal talk about it. He wanted to go and say that wasn’t true, but the mere fact that he hadn’t talked to anyone in a while kind of made the point that he didn’t really know how the others were feeling about anything.  
He sighed softly and stayed quiet for a moment or two before tilting his head in Hal's direction again.  
"... Maybe. I, it’s embarrassing to say but I don’t know them as well as I wish I still... Its... been awhile. I'd say the fact that Dirk has been trying to reach out is a good thing. I don’t know about Dave though. Either way, yeah, it’s not our place to tell any of them. I'd like to hope that they’d both be supportive but I really don’t know." He murmured softly.  
John stayed quiet again when Hal spoke up. He wanted to believe that but a small voice in his head was telling him that it wasn’t true. No one needed him, so why would Davesprite or even Hal for that matter? Why would they even want him around? Why would he put them, especially Davesprite, at ease...?  
He blinked a few times, snapping out of his thoughts and looking at Hal when he spoke again. He slowly glanced at Davesprite, finding the soft noises rather adorable. He nodded though and fully flopped down onto his back with a sigh.  
"Yeah... you're right. Sleep sounds... nice, I think." He said, giving the other beside him a small smile.  
\---  
Hal had seen those gears turning, it was a familiar expression to him, one he'd often seen on Davesprite, so he didn’t have to guess at what was going through Johns head because he'd often had to rebuke them with Davesprite; often reminding him during those times that Hal cared through the use of physical assertion. Like right now as he moved, flopping beside John and flinging an arm and leg over him to cuddle "claiming my first night at Hotel Egbert, just so you know" he nuzzled his cheek into John, letting out a content sigh. They were right next to Davesprite if needed and Hal had a feeling they would need to be. "Night" he closed his eyes, taking the few seconds it took to fall asleep for him once he was comfortable, he hoped John found comfort enough to sleep.  
-  
The increase in noise that was enough to wake Hal came at what felt like five in the morning, maybe six? The sun was just beginning to rise. He sat up, looking to the triangle where Davesprite wasn’t anymore, curled off to the side and making sounds of discomfort, body tensing on and off. He patted John awake before moving to the curled figure "You coulda woke us, D"  
"Kinda came.... suddenly" he gasped out, one egg already sitting in his coils, shiny and orange, on a towel, Davesprite himself was laying on the towels he'd spread out.  
\---  
John's eyebrows raised in surprise when Hal clung onto his arm and flung his leg over him. He didn’t mind in the slightest, it just took him by surprise that he had even done it in the first place.  
He did snort at his comment, but nodded none the less, shifting slightly so that he could return the cuddle that Hal was giving him. He found it roughly comforting in all honesty, to have someone that even wanted to hold onto him at all. It made him feel unbelievably happy too, made him feel... wanted.  
He smiled a little to himself and took off his glassed when Hal fell asleep, before his smile faded and he looked up and sighed.  
He still felt sad, now that everything was quiet and both of them were asleep. It made him feel alone. He ever so slightly shifted so that he could cuddle Hal back more, finding his warmth and breathing a comforting reminder that he was indeed here and that he wasn’t alone. He slowly fell asleep after that.  
-  
John groaned and muttered something incoherent under his breath in his sleep as he waved Hal off for a moment. He'd get up in a second, he was just tired. However, hearing Davesprite and Hal talk followed by Hal continuing to pat him made him suddenly remember where he was and what was supposed to happen today.  
He grunted softly and slipped his glasses on before quickly getting up, this time actually bumping into Hal before muttering an apology to him. It usually took John longer to wake up, he was a heavy sleeper, so forcing himself to get up faster just meant he was a little more out of it than usual.  
"mmmmmmmnnnfuck, shit, sorry Davey, fuck, do you need anything?? Er, anything else?" John said, sounding just a little slurred.  
He also had never done anything like this before, so he wasn’t sure what the Sprite needed, you can bet he would do anything to help though.  
\---  
"A... a healthy dose of... reality..." he exhaled a heavy breath, body tensing "would be nICE!" He made a sound similar to a pained groan, forcing himself to sit up, Hal reaching to help him. Roughly where his dick would have been when he was human was instead a slit, a slit slowly parting as something pushed out. The second egg making its way out was red, roughly the same kids football size as the orange one, covered in clear orange-tinted mucus.  
"John, grab the egg as it comes with the towel, clean it off" Hals voice of reason "and you, hush, save your energy"  
It went like that for the next couple hours, Hal helping Davesprite shift when needed, John kept him hydrated between eggs and cleaned the eggs of the mucus, wiping the pained tears from his eyes.  
Five eggs later; orange, red, black, green, and brown, they encountered a problem that had Davesprite in a near panic, he was an exhausted mess and for the life of him couldn't push it out, he had tried but it was lodged "John!" He whined, an upset warble leaving him and he didn't care right now "it won't come out, I can't get it out-"  
"Hey, hey, calm down, it's okay, we've got you D" Hal soothed before reaching down, sliding his hand along the sprites now thinner frame, carefully feeling along his sore abdomen before turning red eyes to John when he found what he was looking for "there you are... John... you uh... you think you can...?" Reach up in there and grab it? Cause I certainly aint?  
\---  
John winced at how in pain the Sprite sounded, and quickly got up, forcing himself to thoroughly get up to properly help.  
He was still definitely tired as he took care of the eggs, making sure they were all cleaned up while also alternating between making sure the Sprite himself was okay while they did so.  
John winced a second time at the whine of his name, but looked at the Sprite none the less, doing his best to calm him down as well while Hal did what he needed to to figure out where the sprites last egg was.  
That being said, what he did not expect was what Hal asked him to do. He looked up with a mortified look, he wasn’t trying to be rude or anything like that, he just... didn’t entirely know what he was doing. Obviously, he had zero experience with any of this so a slight jolt of panic was going through him.  
That being said, he looked at the Sprite and how panicked and scared he himself looked, before looking at Hal, and well... alright, it looked like he was doing this. He’s making this happen.  
He slowly slid down from his spot beside Davesprite so that he was kneeling in front of him and rolling up his sleeve.  
He swallowed thickly, suddenly nervous as he hesitantly held his hand up. He glanced up at Davesprite before leaning up a little.  
"If uh, I hurt you at all, let me know okay? This... I don’t know, might feel weird? So... yeah..." John said, a tad bit awkwardly before slowly slipping his hand in.  
The initial warmth and, well, feel of it in general just really threw him off guard. It was really slimy and wet but that was better for him, making it easier to reach in. He was up to a little past the middle of his forearm when the tips of his fingers felt the smooth hardness, yet slipperiness of the egg.  
He paused for a moment, blinking and frozen as his brain scrambled for how exactly to pull it out. He bit his lip as he tried to get a grasp on it.  
"You're doing fine Davey, bear with me here, I almost..." He muttered, before letting it a breath of relief when he got a grasp on it.  
He slowly pulled it out, letting out another breath of relief as he finally got it out. He sighed and held the egg close to his chest, ignoring all the fluids he was getting all over his sweater before he stood up, still holding the egg to his chest.  
He pointed at Hal specifically with his clean arm and gave him a playful glare as he set the egg down to clean it, making a mildly disgusted face when he suddenly realized all the liquid on his other arm.  
"You owe me. Big time."  
\---  
The egg was a bit smaller than the others, probably the last one his body had popped out that time, it had managed to turn sideways, which was why Davesprite couldn’t get it out, even with his channel being slick as it was the egg had lodged at such an angle it didn’t matter. He watched John, nodding when he told him to let him know but the fact of the matter was, he was so tired and sore he doubted he’d be able to feel it. He did however feel the pleasured jolts his sensitive area sent when John reached in; a fact that surprised him considering the situation, it was a nice feeling though and he chose to concentrate on that over the pain that dislodging the egg brought. His wings were tensed and he'd moved to grip onto Johns hoodie until it was done. Altogether it wasn’t bad, and the blue egg shined no less than its siblings when cleaned off.  
Once Johns arm was completely retracted, Davesprite collapsed to the nest, letting Hal fret and clean him up with a cloth he had wet with some water from the stockpile, his aching tired body sagged and his wings trembled but he couldn’t help the soft coo that bubbled from his throat at the sight of the eggs. Normally, the first thing his instincts told him he did, which was grab up the eggs and protect them, but with the other two present the desire gave way to comfort, instincts said they were safe with mate and he could rest. He closed his eyes with a sigh and was gone into slumber.  
"Yeah, yeah, I'll blow you later, hey, D- aww, he’s fucking knocked" Hal chuckled softly, looking around before grabbing one of the still clean towels, folding it up, and carefully moving it under Davesprites head as a pillow before resuming cleaning up, the towels under him covered in orange, bunching them up and tossing them out of the nest to be cleaned "How are the eggs?" They were settled amongst Davesprites coils, separated with their own towels to avoid any accidents and to maintain warmth.  
Finished, Hal stood, stretching and popping his back "fuuuuck.... tired...what do you think, sleep or coffee? I vote sleep and I'm pretty sure he could use some cuddles"  
\---  
John busied himself with cleaning up the eggs, finding himself weirdly protective of them. Yes, he agreed to be their technical papa but he still couldn’t place why he felt so fatherly toward them. It made him think of his dad if he were being honest- and how caring and fatherly his dad was. He hoped that wherever his dad was now, that he was proud of him.  
John snorted in response to Hal's comment about blowing him off, sticking his tongue out at him again before smiling softly at the Sprite.  
He also stood up and stretched one he was certain that the eggs were all okay and taken care of. He stretched, making another gross face when he saw all of the slimy stuff on his shirt.  
"Oh yeah? You'll blow me later? You better make it the best damn blow job of my life; it’ll be my first." John half-joked, as he took his sweater off. He was joking about the first half but was serious about the second. A few years ago, he probably would have been embarrassed, but now he didn’t care. yes, he had never had sex, yes, he never had a blow job before, what of it?  
He was a little self-conscious about not having his sweater on anymore, but he tried to act like he wasn’t as he glanced over at the other.  
"The eggs are alright. I cleaned’em up and just... yeah... They're okay." John said softly, still trying to get over how weird he felt without the extra fabric covering him.  
He thought for a moment when Hal spoke up again before snorting and nodding, running his clean hand through his hair as he cleaned his other hand off on his now dirty sweater.  
"Sleep sounds good to me. I'm tired as all hell. Cuddles also sounds great so... I'm totally down to get back to sleep with both of you."  
\---  
Hal faltered, flushing as he hadn't expected the reply yet he should've known better, chuckling a bit nervously himself "I gotchu, babe, one bang up bj in your future is coming, for now, sleep" he didn't comment on the last part, he had no room to judge and he didn't care, secretly he found it rather nice that he wasn't the only one. He settled down in the nest, waiting for John though once John settled, Davesprite seemed to wake up... well... wake was a generous word, he pushed himself up, moving around them until they too were within his coils like the eggs, a wing moving to rest over them and block out the light as he settled back into full sleep across their laps and behind them.  
Hal chuckled "well then" he shrugged, getting comfortable and snuggling into John's side "come here often?" He wiggled his brows. He had to; he couldn't help it. Smirking lightly, he looked over Davesprites tail at the eggs, almost glowing in the shade of Davesprites large wing "think they'll all hatch?" He looked back to John, curious, pressed to Johns side thanks to Davesprite; not that he was complaining, certainly not.  
\---  
John snorted softly as he gave Hal a wink before looking back at the eggs once more. A moment after, he sighed softly, thinking back to what Davesprite had mentioned earlier about Hal. He still didn’t personally believe it but he also did trust the Sprite so he, at least, kept it in mind, but he didn’t think much of it.  
John tensed just for a moment when Davesprite started shifting before relaxing once he settled down on their laps, smiling at the other beside him before getting comfortable once more.  
John covered his mouth with his free hand to try and hold back his giggles before softly blowing his bangs out of his face.  
"Oh yeah, I totally come here often. it's where I chill with the boys, y'know, the usual." John said, trying hard to say it with a serious face.  
As Hal leaned into his side, he glanced at him for a moment before shifting just a little so that he could wrap an arm around him.  
"I think they’ll hatch. Or at least some of them. I’m...actually kind of excited?" John said, looking at the eggs for a moment before looking back at the other beside him.  
\---  
"I hope so, Ds fucking adorable so those babies gonna be extra adorable" he smiled, patting the tailpiece across their laps gently. The sun was shining now but tucked under the sprites wing it was no bother to those who were tired, comforting, and warm in the sprite’s coils. That was the only thing he seemed to keep from the game, his tailpiece was solid but sometimes seemed to be longer than what it looked like, especially now, Davesprite had wrapped around them enough times to enclose them yet when he wasn't coiled, it seemed short, therefore he must be able to extend it as needed? Either way!  
It was comfortable and Hal nuzzled into John, humming gently as he closed his eyes "Glad you're excited, I am too" after a moment he opened his eyes again and looked up at John "my curiosity is killing me...what was it like reaching up in that birdgina to get the egg? I mean it looked pretty...mucus-y... but I mean like...did it feel like a solid muscle or?" He couldn’t wait to ask apparently, he just had to know, still, he didn’t seem to be asking out of perversion, he actually seemed curious, especially considering there was not one snarky remark in that whole thing.  
\---  
John nodded in agreement also bringing his free hand up to gently rest on the sprites tail piece as well.  
He already had a strong feeling the little baby sprites would without a doubt be adorable. Admittingly Davesprite was adorable as Hal said, so there wasn’t much concern in that department.  
It definitely was comfortable- both with the sprites tail wrapped around them and with Hal pressed into his side. It all provided a very nice and comfortable warmth that made it easy for him to feel a little drowsy.  
He softly returned the light nuzzling that the other beside him was doing as he let his own eyes slip shut for a moment.  
When Hal asked his question though, John snorted and sighed. He opened his eyes again and looked at the hand he used and lightly flexed his fingers. It was clean now; it was odd to think that he even had his hand up in there in the first place.  
"Uh... Yeah, it was really mucus-y. It... did feel solid? It was really warm and uh..." He bit his lip, trying to find a not awkward way of wording it. "... Tight? It felt like it kept squeezing my arm every few seconds."  
John found Hals genuine curiosity to be a little surprising but he didn’t mind sharing.  
\---  
"I imagine that was contractions, his body trying to expel an intrusion, but that intrusion helped possibly save him from something bad, no good could have come from leaving the egg there" He settled back into John again, suppressing a yawn "it must be one solid muscle piece, that actually sounds interesting cause the way I've seen him move with that thing, I don’t think he has an actual skeleton in there" that would explain it for sure the way Davesprite moved.  
Hal couldn’t suppress the next yawn and settled against John again "Sleep now, Papa, Mama gonna need you in the morning when he’s too sore to move right" Hal mumbled, eyes slipping closed once more as he nuzzled his nose into Johns chest, looking much like a content cat.


End file.
